


Hosting You

by CrownedAnxietyAttack



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Incest, Love Triangles, M/M, Violence, crossover AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 05:22:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8652574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrownedAnxietyAttack/pseuds/CrownedAnxietyAttack
Summary: Being reborn was always a refreshing yet forlorn event. Rebirth was saying goodbye to the life before and accepting the new. It was abandoning old ways and learning a different way of being. It was going from one body to the next. It was a never ending cycle.
It wasn’t a terrible way of living, honestly. You just learn not to become attached. Experience one life and then try the next. Some lives were more exciting than others. Some lasted only a few years, others lasted centuries. Each body was different from the last. Each Host a different experience.
This one he could already tell was going to be far different from the other’s he had previously experienced.
Fingers brushed over his sensitive neck, causing the Soul to shiver inside his new body. He pulled in the stray antenna just as the skin on the neck was completely mended with only a small, pale line left behind as evidence of insertion. No sooner had the wound been healed a voice spoke through the quiet silence.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Host AU is based off of the book The Host which is about aliens taking over Earth and taking human bodies as their own. Since a body has only room for one soul, the humans are completely erased. Usually.

Being reborn was always a refreshing yet forlorn event. Rebirth was saying goodbye to the life before and accepting the new. It was abandoning old ways and learning a different way of being. It was going from one body to the next. It was a never ending cycle.

It wasn’t a terrible way of living, honestly. You just learn not to become attached. Experience one life and then try the next. Some lives were more exciting than others. Some lasted only a few years, others lasted centuries. Each body was different from the last. Each Host a different experience.

This one he could already tell was going to be far different from the other’s he had previously experienced.

Fingers brushed over his sensitive neck, causing the Soul to shiver inside his new body. He pulled in the stray antenna just as the skin on the neck was completely mended with only a small, pale line left behind as evidence of insertion. No sooner had the wound been healed a voice spoke through the quiet silence.

“When will he be ready to speak to me?”

Dark brows knit together at the tone. It was an unfriendly voice. A tone that was just a little too harsh. A little too rough on the ears. His new body, without even opening his eyes, already reacted to the sound. His hands balled into fists as his teeth gnashed and his chest pushed out bravely from his body. His reaction must have gone unnoticed because no one spoke a word of concern towards him, but they continued to...argue? That was foreign to him. To all of their kind, even. But he could hear the sound of their voices. Hushed so as not to bother him, but sharp like broken glass. Despite not knowing of such sounds or actions beforehand, he was quite content with the level of imagery his mind could produce. A human mind was far more advanced than he had originally perceived. From the way the other Souls had spoken of this planet, he had expected to be placed inside a dull, bloodthirsty creature. But he was rather surprised to find himself in a highly intelligent form.

“That Soul is not your assignment. He’s mine,” another voice growled, gruff and cruel.

“That Soul’s Host has answers I need. And since _you_ killed the Host, guess who I have to speak to now?” this voice was deeper, older, more powerful. It made the Soul’s body shake down to the core. Why did that voice have such a hold on him? He knew that it was another Soul. All Souls got along. They were a unit. They were one. But this body still became tense after every syllable that fell from their lips. Maybe he needed to connect with the body more. The human could still be clinging to this body. _His_ body. This body was his now. His alone.

_Get out._

He frowned. That was a voice different from the ones he had been hearing. Had he tapped into a memory without realizing it?

“Phil, I think you should go. It’s not a good idea to crowd a newly inserted Soul. Especially when they are new to bodies like these. Shape Shifter will take good care of the Soul and his Host. If anything concerning you comes up, I will let you know,” a third voice, much softer and kinder than the other two. This one soothed the Soul and caused his body to relax. He could trust this voice.

“Fine,” the reply was curt and final. Heavy steps walked away from his body and vanished behind a firmly closed door.

“That man never gives up.”

“He’s one of our finest Seekers. He doesn’t know the meaning of giving up.”

“Thanks for rubbing salt into the wound. I’m a Seeker too, you know.”

“I know.”

Sarcasm. That was a new term to him as well. _The use of irony to mock or convey contempt._ What is mock? _To tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner._ No wonder this species hated each other so. Their vocabulary and mannerisms were awful.

_Wuss_.

His brows furrowed again. Was there a fourth person in the room that he hadn’t noticed? But they didn’t seem to be interacting with the Healer and Seeker whom spoke to each other under hushed tones. The voice seemed to be speaking to _him_. As if they could hear his thoughts.

_Wow, yer not bright are ya?_

The Soul grumbled in discomfort, signaling to the others in the room. Fingers brushed against his shoulder in comfort as they gently patted his skin. “Take it easy. Don’t push yourself too hard,” the softer voice soothed. This was the Healer.

“He’s connected already? He works surprisingly fast.”

“He has a lot of experience. This is his eighth life. Now stand back and give him room. This Soul will have a rough time with the Host’s memories and I would like him to be as comfortable as possible while he goes through them,” the Healer ordered.

The Seeker seemed to have ignored the Healer for he whispered, “Eight lives…,” in an awestruck breath and said nothing else.

Fingers brushed through the Soul’s hair in a soothing stroke, easing him into his first memory.

_A sharp curse fell from chapped lips. He had been found. Of course he had known that it wasn’t the brightest or safest idea to come here, to come back home, but he had to. He had to because…because..._

The Soul frowned. The memory was missing information. A name. Things like this had happened before. It wasn’t worrisome. The name would come back in time. The Soul eased back into the memory with a relaxing sigh.

_He hated seeing...seeing_ them _like this. Sad and depressed and barely living. He hated seeing his true love live life without a smile on their face, even if they had a reason to be solemn. The total loss of earth to a bunch of parasitic aliens would do that to a person. So, like the romantic idiot he was, he snuck out to take back some of their possessions from their old house. He couldn’t wait to see the excited look on their face. He couldn’t wait to see how happy his lover would be. He wanted so desperately to bring that spring back into their step. He wanted to see that beautiful smile back on their face_.

The Soul’s stomach rolled uncomfortably as anxiety washed through his new body, whether it was an emotion from the memory or something he was feeling because of his current knowledge he didn’t know, either way he knew this story was taking a turn for the worst.

_Now he may never see that smile ever again._

The Soul gasped sharply as an image came to mind. The face was mildly obscured from the human’s fear, but he was still able to see how beautiful that smile truly was. Plump light pink lips gently upturned in a soft loving smile just for _him_.

_That smile isn’t for you! It’s for me!_

He mentally blinked, surprised to find that he had become so distracted by that amazing smile that he hadn’t realized that the memory was still playing.

_He was running now. The bag on his back filled with pictures and trinkets of their past weighing him down as he raced through the familiar house. Running up a set of stairs he used to smile and laugh on, now he was appalled to find that he was beginning to tear up. His large fist swiped at his eyes as he took a sharp left and slammed the door behind him and locked it. He felt a disgusted choke fill his throat when he noticed that the room had been changed from when he had last seen it. The once warm and cozy room for two had been changed to a rigid office that held no remnants of the love that once radiated in this small room. With a hard shake of his head he grabbed a spare chair and angled it under the door knob just as a fist struck the wood on the other side._

The Soul jolted along with the memory as tears began to gather on his lashes. Dying wasn’t very common amongst their kind, but when it did happen it was usually natural. They had fallen in love with a certain body or a certain life or had grown tired of the countless years they had lived, and would allow themselves to die along with their host. It was a choice. The same one this human had. But unlike Souls, this human chose a more grueling way to die.

_“Fuck off!” he screamed as he smashed his fist on the door, the wood rattling and frightening the monsters on the other side. Good. At least he could scare a few of them before he left. He spun around to drag a night stand and a filing cabinet to the center of the room and crawled on top, shoving away the wood panel that eventually lead to the roof. He scrambled inside and pushed the plank back into place and sealed away the last ray of light._

The Soul swallowed around the fearful lump in his throat. He hated this memory. He didn’t want to watch any more of it.

_**You** don’t want to watch anymore of it? You fucking assholes made me **live** this, jackass._

Where was that voice coming from?

_The attic felt like an oven, roasting his skin as sweat soaked through his clothes. It felt worse than it had those few years ago. Maybe it was the pressure from what he was about to do. He let out a shaking sigh as he slowly crept forward on his hands and knees. The thin boards creaked under his weight as splinters stabbed into his fingers as he silently prayed that he didn’t fall through. A fall from this height wouldn’t be enough to kill him and he couldn’t let these body stealers take him alive. So death it was._

_The small window finally came into view through the piercing darkness and he stretched out his hand to press his fingers against the cold window. Memories of secretly climbing onto the roof as a teenager with his lover by his side flooded his mind in a violent rush, causing a pained sob to leave his throat as a smile spread on his lips. He was never going to see their face again. He was never going to kiss them again, or feel them on his skin, or be able to hold them close. He was never going to say goodbye. Or say “I love you” for the last time...or even the first time. Fuck he was going to be missing so much._

“Is...is he okay?” the Seeker asked, his voice becoming nervous.

“He should be fine. This Soul just has to relive rather difficult memories. You saw how painful it was the day you retrieved this Host,” the Heal replied, the tone sounding almost...accusing.

_He pushed open the window and ever so carefully crawled through, silently laughing to himself at how careful he was being. Once he finally made it to the roof he pulled the bag off his back and peered over the edge at a bush growing in the alleyway beside the house. He held out his bag and let it fall with a hard thunk into the large bush below. He didn’t need them snooping around in that back. It wouldn’t lead them anywhere, but he didn't need them looking for the people in the pictures._

_He peered over the edge and swallowed. Heights never seemed like a big deal when he was with him. But now his fear was running rampant through his veins as he felt the building grow taller as the ground shrank further and further away. He really didn’t want to do this. But he had to._

_He took in a deep, soothing breath as thought of-_

The Soul frowned. He had hit a black wall. He searched for a crack or an opening, but it was sealed up tight. Whatever this body knew, didn’t want the Soul to know. Before he could try to get back into the memory, it started on it’s own, but had skipped towards the end.

_He was crying like a baby. It was pathetic. He couldn’t see anything he was crying so much. But no one could blame him. This hurt. And not just because he was going to fling himself off a building._

The Soul flinched, hands twitching and body squirming at the uncomfortable methods the Host had thought up to kill himself, finally settling on the harshest and most effective method: jumping head first.

_It had to be now. He could hear the Seekers busting into the room. It wouldn’t take long for them to follow him to the roof. If he didn’t jump, it would be all over. So he took a few steps back and a deep breath, and ran. Ran straight to the edge of the building and gave himself a little extra push. Even though he prepared himself to die, he couldn’t help the bellowing scream that escaped his lips as he watch himself quickly approached the ground as the air tore at his clothes and skin. Every bone in his body seemed to shatter the moment it made contact with the cement, and he swore he could feel the sharp shards piercing through his skin. But he didn’t have time to think about the searing pain when his head struck the ground, cracking and caving in as everything turned black._

A violent screech escaped chapped lips as the Soul opened their chocolate brown eyes and gasped as he stared at the white ceiling above him, tears running down his face as the silver ring around his pupil glowed under the florescent lights.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. I know the freshest memory is always the most painful. You’re safe Fiddles With The Frozen Ice Castles. Just take a deep breath. I promise you’re okay,” the Healer said in a soft, soothing tone as he dabbed at the Soul’s eyes with a handkerchief.

The Soul continued to cry as his body mourned the life it used to have. The fear and the love and the pain it had felt days ago still coursed through these strong veins. It was amazing that the Host hadn’t died from that jump. By all means, even with their advanced medicines, this body should be dead and unusable. It’s resilience, even for it’s small size (compared to other species), was remarkable.

“They shouldn’t have put him in a body like this. He’s not used to their emotions. He may not be able to handle this,” the Seeker said with a worried edge.

“He may be the only one who can. Eight lives is a big deal. And we couldn’t risk losing the information this Host holds. A human all by themselves can’t survive for long and how can they just pop up in New Jersey all of a sudden? There’s something going on and we need to know. This Soul is going to help us. I have faith in them,” the Healer said, stroking the Soul’s hair once again.

“You might be right. Fiddles With The Frozen Ice Castles? Are you okay? Can you tell us anything about your Host? A name?” the Seeker asked cautiously.

_Don’t you **fucking** **dare**._

The Soul finally realized who that voice was. It wasn’t a Soul. It was a Host. A human. A small piece of this human still resided inside this Host, and he was here to get rid of it. So he ignored the angry voice inside his head as he swallowed and cleared his throat as his sobs softened into minor sniffles. “St-Stanley. His name...his name is Stanley.”


End file.
